10 on 10 | August 2012

August 10, 2012

I keep telling myself that for one of these 10 on 10 days I am going to challenge myself by not taking kid photos, but instead photographing interesting objects, unique landscapes, and other photo-worthy scenes. I keep saying that I am going to plan a day and go to the city and just walk around and be inspired by the lines and curves and new sights around me. But it hasn’t happened yet. What I continue to shoot is this crazy life with three kids. The silly adventures, the running around, the messes… Yes, it’s definitely crazy, but it’s mine. They are mine. My time with them seems short, so while I have them with me I am going to photograph what makes my heart sing. I’ve got a lot of years left to wander the city taking pictures of concrete and metal. For now, though, taking photos of my kids is just what I should be doing. It’s what fills my heart. It’s who I am.

So this month my trip to the city to photograph inanimate objects can wait. What I needed to photograph was just more of our everyday. I needed to document what our time looks like together this summer of 2012. This summer has been a whirlwind (evidenced by my very quiet blog), and I’ve tried hard to banish from my mind the reality that all three of my kids will be in full-day school in just a few short weeks. If I’m being honest, that reality is taking quite an emotional toll on me. My son will be going into 1st grade and my twins into Kindergarten, so that means in the span of two years I will go from having all of them home with me all day to all of them being gone from 8am to 4pm everyday. I think it’s extra difficult because having two very bonded children home all last year meant lots of playtime, them running around being crazy, singing loudly…just generally a lot of activity and sound. It is going to be SO quiet.

I do realize that I should just be happy for the many blessings in my life — that I have three healthy children, that they have a safe school to go to, that they are growing and changing into amazing little people, that I’ve been able to be home with them while they are young…

But as much as I say those things to myself, it all comes down to this: I am going to miss them. I am going to miss them terribly.

So here it is. Our crazy, imperfect day during the last month of this amazing summer.

Carolyn Stringfellow-I totally agree with you. My kids are pretty much all that I take pictures of. I am still learning so much with photography and trying to take pictures of a 3 year old and a 11 month old is quite impossible! But it is really all I want to do. My blog is nothing but pictures of my kids! I feel terrible like people look at it and think..”really, more pictures of her kids?” but I love them and want to remember these times forever! Glad I am not alone. OH, and nothing makes me happier than your pictures at Target! Doesnt everyone LOVE target! haha!ReplyCancel

August 11, 2012 - 2:08 am

Kirsty-Abu Dhabi-I’m so glad you’re capturing all these wonderous love filled moments Amy – I remember all too clearly feeling exactly the same last year – bottle up every moment of the next few weeks sweetie xReplyCancel

WORD FOR THE DAY
Sunday, Aug. 12
The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.
Robert Louis Stevenson

Your photography and messages show that you really LIVE this.ReplyCancel